Móatún 7 has been one of Iceland’s most interesting and prolific labels over the last few years. Operated by electronic musician Árni Grétar, aka Futuregrapher, it has put out somewhere in the ballpark of 300 releases over the past five years across formats – digital only, CD, cassette, and vinyl. I have a good friend who, as far as I know, has managed to stay on top of all the label’s physical releases, and just the thought of the postage on them makes my head hurt, but I also respect his tenacity and devotion to what is truly an excellent electronica label.
Many many moons ago Árni performed under the name DJ Dorrit, and late last year he put out some of his old material from that period as a 12-track digital release called TUN025 – 2003. Limited edition physical copies were produced as well, including an edition of 50 CDs and an edition of 30 lathe cut vinyl 10″ records. I was lucky enough to score one of the records and gave it a spin today.
I’m generally leery of lathe cuts. My experience with them has been very hit-and-miss, with some sounding great and others coming out of my speakers like hot garbage. But I trust Árni’s commitment to quality, plus I’m still a bit of a physical media nutball, so I hardly hesitated before pulling the trigger. And I’m glad I did, because this thing sounds great. The only complaint I have is the length – the vinyl version only has enough space for five of the dozen tracks that comprise the digital and CD releases. And after listening to those five songs, I was left wanting more.
If you know the sound of the 808, you’ll recognize it right from the opening beats of “808 Cowbell Emo”, those high-pitched sounds bringing me right back to Sir Mix-A-Lot jams in the late 1980s, though with a smoother and chiller flow. The other A side track, “Apótek”, lets the high synth notes dance on top of the low, steady 808 beat – thump thump thump. The dichotomy of the serious beats and the lighthearted synths give it a refreshing playfulness. The B side introduces some distorted vocals (or possibly vocal samples) on the all-too-brief “Hafstraumar” before flowing into the more ambient “Lonely Bruce”, that signature 808 cowbell bouncing up and down like a happy puppy. The side closes with the fast tempo “We Are All Monkeys”. It’s not quite gabber speed, but parts of it have some serious velocity before ratcheting things down a bit to close out.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of the 10″, and while I suspect physical copies will be hard to track down I encourage you to give the digital version a listen, or even a purchase, on the Móatún 7 Bandcamp page HERE.